


and all will be well

by plentify



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic!AU, Fluff, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Nothing Hurts, doyoung's mental health isn't exactly the healthiest, nothing too serious though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 12:31:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15412977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plentify/pseuds/plentify
Summary: It’s Jaehyun’s turn to sing them all to sleep even though Taeil is pretty sure they’ve lost track of whose turn it is. Dongyoung ends up harmonizing along with Jaehyun’s soft voice, and Taeil joins in until the very last word is mumbled in his sleep.[in which jaeilyoung sing at random times. it’s supposed to be cute.]





	and all will be well

**Author's Note:**

> like, half beta'd.
> 
> Also I'm mad that there isn't a lot of jaeilyoung. Doeilhyun? Without you!line?

There’s nothing wrong with the way Dongyoung sings.

It comes out rough and grounded in the morning when he’s pouring his bitter black coffee into a mug, thick and full. It’s nothing even comparable to how he sings for osts; sweet, floating and clear. But Taeil thinks he likes Dongyoung’s morning voice a lot better. It’s like his little secret, how Dongyoung will yelp when he watches Jaehyun wrap his arms around his waist from behind.

“Aw, no coffee for us?”

“What, no make your own!”

Taeil notes the bright pink in Dongyoung’s cheeks as he tries to shove Jaehyun off him, alas to little success. He listens to the two bicker and to how Dongyoung’s voice begins to clear up. He sighs a little in disappointment before walking up to the two and planting a gentle kiss on Dongyoung’s cheek. The two momentarily pause, with Jaehyun staring up at Taeil with a small smirk graced on his lips. Dongyoung stares at Taeil with this innocent, shocked expression that Taeil finds absolutely adorable. It’s rare for Dongyoung to be so transparent, especially around the both of them. Taeil treasures every moment of it.

“Good morning Dongyoungie.”

Dongyoung’s cheeks tint just the slightest bit redder when Taeil gives him another kiss, this time on the edge of his lips.

“What’s with the both of you today?”

Jaehyun bursts out laughing, and Taeil smiles to himself.

Truly, there is nothing wrong with the way Dongyoung sings.

 

Jaehyun meets Dongyoung in his music theory class.

It’s nothing more than two more people trying to get through college, but Dongyoung is more than just peculiar. Jaehyun accidentally misses class because Taeil is bad at setting alarms, and Dongyoung is there with notes from the lecture. They hit it off, and Dongyoung moves in with him and Taeil.

There’s some stuff in the middle, something with Dongyoung’s small, negligible problem with people in general and how he unintentionally isolates Taeil in the first week he starts living in the apartment. But Taeil is (thankfully) calm and kind enough to talk to Dongyoung about it on a quiet afternoon.

Jaehyun doesn’t think about their living situation much. Taeil is busy with his head stuck in a textbook half the time he even is at home, and Dongyoung tends to stay in his room whenever he doesn’t have classes. They feel more like just three people living under the same roof, but Jaehyun doesn’t really know if he has a problem with it. They’re just three college students trying to figure out their lives.

He knows he should’ve foreseen something coming, especially when he was the person to offer Dongyoung a place to stay after his roommate graduated. It happens when Dongyoung locks himself up in his room for 36 hours, and Jaehyun almost has to body slam the door down because Dongyoung refuses to unlock it.

“We have food.”

Jaehyun thanks his nonexistent gods that Taeil was born with a seemingly infinite amount of patience. Either that, or he was born with the inability to read the atmosphere. Jaehyun doesn’t think too much about that because the next thing he knows he’s spoon feeding Dongyoung bulgogi while Taeil is wiping away the tears that have dried up on his cheeks.

 

Taeil sings in times of great distress.

Mainly, during finals week.

It’s powerful, clean and piercing. The first time Jaehyun hears it, he doesn’t believe it’s Taeil who’s belting out notes above the normal tenor range. Taeil, who is normally so warm, so calm, near screaming out the riffs in the privacy of his bedroom. Jaehyun immediately joins Dongyoung in tackling the eldest down onto the bed in a massive puddle of hugs.

“Hyung, you’ll hurt yourself.” Jaehyun hears Dongyoung whisper into the nook of Taeil’s shoulder.

There’s silence. And then, a sob. Jaehyun feels it, feels as Taeil starts to break down. It doesn’t happen very often, but Taeil is only human. He scooches himself up to Taeil’s face and cups it in both his hands.

“It’ll be okay yeah?”

Taeil blinks open his eyes, allowing Jaehyun to wipe away the tears that crowd at the edges. There’s a couple more sobs, a few hiccups, before Taeil nods his head. He’s staring straight into Jaehyun’s eyes, all pure intensity and Jaehyun can’t help himself from kissing Taeil right on the lips. He slots them together for just a moment before pulling away.

“Thank you.”

Jaehyun hears Dongyoung hum against where his lips are attached to the nape of Taeil’s neck. They stay there for a long time, right to when the alarm rings the next morning, with Dongyoung’s lips still on the back of Taeil’s neck.

Jaehyun feels himself smile when he hears Taeil murmur a gentle lullaby, and he falls back asleep.

 

Dongyoung thinks among the three of them, Taeil suffers the most.

Taeil is stuck between deciding a computer science major and a music performance major. There are definitely not enough hours in the day to do both but for some reason Taeil is out to kill himself. He’s practicing while fumbling through notes, doing warm up exercises while helping Dongyoung make lunch, reading through a thick textbook while all three of them sit in the back row of music history.

He can’t stand how much work Taeil puts himself under. Not necessarily because he cares about Taeil (he does), but rather because when Dongyoung looks at himself and then looks at Taeil there’s no reason why Dongyoung should be complaining about his problems. And it’s not even Taeil’s fault. Dongyoung can’t help the hatred towards himself for thinking so selfishly.

So he does what he does best: ignoring the problem until he breaks.

“Just because we all have problems doesn’t make yours any less valid.”

Dongyoung hates himself so much, because all he can do is nod. Jaehyun has stayed silent, hugging Dongyoung from behind as Dongyoung places his forehead gingerly on Taeil’s shoulder.

“It’s alright Dongyoungie,” Taeil brings a hand up to ruffle Dongyoung’s hair, “It’s okay to be selfish.”

Dongyoung feels Jaehyun hug him just a bit tighter, as if in agreement. It only serves to make Dongyoung bawl harder. He wants Taeil to yell at him to get over his problems, wants Jaehyun to slap him for being stupid.

But he knows that they aren’t those kinds of people. His thoughts quiet down, leaving him numb all over, nearly placing all of his weight back into Jaehyun. He hears the two hum a small duet, harmonizing over the lines of some jazz standard their improv teacher mentioned in class. Fighting the urge to let it soothe him to sleep, Dongyoung attempts to formulate some kind of apology, any kind of diction to tell Taeil that he can take a break too. But Taeil’s lips are on his almost instantly, incredibly soft and ticklish, and the endeavor quickly flees.

 _Tomorrow_ , he reassures himself, _Tomorrow he’ll definitely return the favor._

 

Jaehyun is shy of his voice.

Dongyoung doesn’t question his ability, only how sparingly he’ll hear the other sing. Not in the shower, not while doing chores. Instead, Dongyoung hears Jaehyun sing right before he goes to sleep.

It’s some kind of feathery, soft lullaby that unintentionally lulls both Dongyoung and Taeil to sleep. Grounded. Safe. Dongyoung fears that if he ever were to ask about it to Jaehyun, he would stop doing it. So Dongyoung stays quiet about it, enjoying the opportunity before he melts into sleep.

“Jaehyun, you know you’re beautiful right?”

Dongyoung finds himself wedged between Jaehyun and Taeil on the couch on a Friday afternoon. He doesn’t know how they did it, but they did. He feels Jaehyun flush at the compliment, graciously accepting it with a quiet “thank you.” Taeil doesn’t seem satisfied.

“No, I mean you’re really beautiful,” Taeil’s words come out blurred, soft and comforting.

Another thank you comes out of Jaehyun’s mouth. The other two sigh in defeat, recognizing nothing else is going to come out.

 

It all starts when Jaehyun comes home with a frown on his face and a paper with a big fat 87 written on the top with red ink.

Jaehyun is good at not talking about his problems, but he ends up breaking down when Dongyoung hands him a cup of instant ramen.

And Taeil doesn’t know what to think of it. They’re grown ass men with lives. But when Jaehyun tells them both he needs to work on singing ballads, Taeil offers himself almost immediately.

It’s honestly a little stupid how one adjudicator was unsatisfied with the tomber Jaehyun used when he sang softly. Something about not enough dynamic contrast or some bullshit Taeil knows is just people trying to stomp on people’s egos. But Jaehyun often times takes the wrong things to heart, and so somehow Taeil ends up watching Jaehyun sing Dongyoung to sleep.

It’s an odd scene, seeing Dongyoung grow soft and plaint under some German lullaby Jaehyun is singing an octave lower than originally written. It’s gentle and earthy, something so very Jaehyun-like. He leans against the doorway with his biochem notes in hand as Jaehyun quietly finishes, stands up and shuffles out the bedroom.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Jaehyun gives some hint of a smile to Taeil, “Don’t stay up too late yeah?”

It’s odd how Taeil finds himself nodding, watching Jaehyun turn the corner to the living room. Somehow Taeil wants to chase after him and offer him some kind of consolation. But it’s late and Taeil can only stay awake for so long. He sheds off his sweatpants and climbs in the bed across from Dongyoung’s sleeping body.

He realizes how empty the room feels with just two people in it, but he finds himself falling asleep before he can think anymore about it.

  
It’s merely an opportunity to practice, a pragmatic way to fit practice into the day.

Jaehyun doesn’t know exactly when it becomes a routine for all three of them to take turns every night, switching between pop tunes and jazz riffs and classical airs. One day, Dongyoung almost physically forces Taeil and Jaehyun into one bed and sits himself right at the edge. He starts to sing with his eyes shut so tight they create wrinkles. Taeil gives Jaehyun a questioning glance, and Jaehyun can only respond with a shrug because he has no idea what’s going on either.

Dongyoung’s voice is gentle and airy, and Jaehyun sleeps well that night.

There’s no tangible explanation given; Dongyoung only says that he owes them. That he needs to give Taeil and him something. It makes no sense in Jaehyun’s mind, but Dongyoung seems satisfied with himself, so Jaehyun stays quiet.

The next time it happens, Taeil needs feedback for the performance recital coming up in a week. He goes through his long program, a series of pleasant vocalises and snippets of operas. Jaehyun does his very best to give good criticism (Dongyoung is better), but after ten minutes all he can do is close his eyes and enjoy Taeil’s voice. He’s close to falling asleep when he realizes the singing has stopped. Peeking open an eye, he finds Dongyoung’s face very close to his own, skin gleaming almost unnaturally in the moonlight. Taeil is just settling down at the desk in the corner of the room, just about to open his textbook, when Jaehyun makes a noise of protest. Taeil immediately turns to meet Jaehyun’s tired gaze.

“Hyung, you don’t need to work anymore today.”

Taeil is so close to protesting. Jaehyun can feel it. But to his relief, Taeil takes off his glasses and turns off the desk lamp with a quiet click.

And so they fall into a system. Jaehyun contributes a lot, he thinks. Particularly when he knows both Dongyoung and Taeil are already asleep, which defeats the original purpose of performing. On multiple occasions, however, Jaehyun finishes some Maroon 5 song to Dongyoung’s sharp eyes watching him. It makes Jaehyun startled, no matter how many times it happens.

“Why do you only sing to us when you think we’re not listening?”

“Because my actual singing to you will only serve to ruin your opinion of me.”

Dongyoung sighs in annoyance and gestures for Jaehyun to come sleep with him with a quick flip of his fingers.

It leads to all three of them in their current predicament: squished onto the two twin beds they shoved together a while back. Taeil is on the end, reading something (Dongyoung hopes that it’s not a textbook or any notes of any kind), Jaehyun on his back in the middle with Dongyoung cuddled up on his side.

“Who’s turn is it today?”

“It should be mine right? Taeil did it yesterday.”

“What? Didn’t you sing Charlie Parker yesterday?”

“No, that was two days ago.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it was yesterday.”

Silence.

Dongyoung hears Taeil put down something akin to a book and shuffle around so he’s facing Dongyoung. Taeil’s hair, soft and floppy without hair product, spreads out across the pillow. His eyes focus on the slope of Jaehyun’s nose, how it gently curves down to his cupid’s bow and over his lips, over his chin.

“What’s that song professor wanted us to listen to?” Dongyoung shifts his arms so he’s laying his head on the backs of his hands.

“Blue Skies?”

“Yeah, that one.”

_Blue skies, smiling at me, nothing but blue skies, do I see_

Dongyoung doesn’t know who starts. He doesn’t even realize when his lips start to mouth the words or when he starts to harmonize underneath Jaehyun. Taeil takes over the last chorus when Jaehyun’s voice gets too soft. He smiles as he hears Dongyoung fade out, dozing off just as he finishes off the song.

 

Jaehyun is the first to wake up to Taeil’s alarm the next morning. He immediately chooses to press the snooze button before falling back down onto the bed, tucking Dongyoung’s head into the crook of his neck. The mattress bounces in response, and Jaehyun feels Taeil begin to stir behind him.

“What time is it?”

The sheets crinkle as Taeil shifts around more, scooting to wrap his arms around Jaehyun’s waist. Dongyoung whines softly under his breath as the bed creaks under all their weight.

“Don’t worry about it. Go back to sleep.”

 


End file.
